This article discusses a case of introducing and launching a new corporate concept, a so-called company-specific production system (XPS), into an organisation. Such concepts are at present very commonly used, but what does it take to implement a new logic into an existing organisation? As a theoretical point of departure, the process was understood as a process of domestication, where the imported concept moves from being external, general and unfamiliar to becoming internal and known, owned by the organisational culture and embedded in its practices. Domestication is a process where the import has to be rescripted through how the organisation, as individual members and as various collectives, enacts it, makes sense of it and understands it. The organisation in this case study had a rich tradition of participation, and in the process under study, members from most levels and functions were involved in the attempts to transform the general concept into something workable and company-specific. This paper takes a socio-technical design approach, which argues that organisations importing new technology or new organisational concepts are faced with choices, not with something inevitable. The study reveals the challenges of the domestication process and how the organisation faces not one choice but a multiplicity of interdependent choices, and how handling the process calls for an untraditional, complex and participatory approach.
{"title":"Introducing a corporate concept into organisational practices: a case study of domestication and organisational choice","authors":"T. Haga, Johan E. Ravn","doi":"10.46364/EJWI.V4I2.571","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.46364/EJWI.V4I2.571","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses a case of introducing and launching a new corporate concept, a so-called company-specific production system (XPS), into an organisation. Such concepts are at present very commonly used, but what does it take to implement a new logic into an existing organisation? As a theoretical point of departure, the process was understood as a process of domestication, where the imported concept moves from being external, general and unfamiliar to becoming internal and known, owned by the organisational culture and embedded in its practices. Domestication is a process where the import has to be rescripted through how the organisation, as individual members and as various collectives, enacts it, makes sense of it and understands it. The organisation in this case study had a rich tradition of participation, and in the process under study, members from most levels and functions were involved in the attempts to transform the general concept into something workable and company-specific. This paper takes a socio-technical design approach, which argues that organisations importing new technology or new organisational concepts are faced with choices, not with something inevitable. The study reveals the challenges of the domestication process and how the organisation faces not one choice but a multiplicity of interdependent choices, and how handling the process calls for an untraditional, complex and participatory approach.","PeriodicalId":115904,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Workplace Innovation","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134579495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Socio-technical System Design (STSD) was developed as an alternative to the prevailing Taylorist organisational design principles focusing on specialisation and standardisation. STSD emphasised quality of work and has thus been described as a strategy for “simple organisation and complex jobs”. This may sound like a partial strategy for developing holistic, meaningful jobs. However, it is as much about developing efficient organisations with interactions between people and technology that increase company competitiveness.STSD has taken different directions in different countries/geographic areas. All these directions emphasise holistic job design and employee participation. However, approaches to achieving holistic job design and to the role of employee participation vary. The ongoing digital revolution, often labelled Industry 4.0, is rapidly changing the conditions for work in general. Tasks that were previously manual are being automated, and communications and information are being made available to an extent not seen until now. In this landscape, it is necessary to consider whether we have suitable approaches for facing the challenges posed by these technological developments.In this paper, which considers two strands in the tradition of STSD theory and a case study, I will examine the need to introduce a familiar but rarely discussed or used STSD approach to major technological and organisational changes
{"title":"Can an unconventional Socio-technical System approach open the way to new solutions and new understanding?","authors":"T. Haga","doi":"10.46364/EJWI.V4I2.567","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.46364/EJWI.V4I2.567","url":null,"abstract":"Socio-technical System Design (STSD) was developed as an alternative to the prevailing Taylorist organisational design principles focusing on specialisation and standardisation. STSD emphasised quality of work and has thus been described as a strategy for “simple organisation and complex jobs”. This may sound like a partial strategy for developing holistic, meaningful jobs. However, it is as much about developing efficient organisations with interactions between people and technology that increase company competitiveness.STSD has taken different directions in different countries/geographic areas. All these directions emphasise holistic job design and employee participation. However, approaches to achieving holistic job design and to the role of employee participation vary. The ongoing digital revolution, often labelled Industry 4.0, is rapidly changing the conditions for work in general. Tasks that were previously manual are being automated, and communications and information are being made available to an extent not seen until now. In this landscape, it is necessary to consider whether we have suitable approaches for facing the challenges posed by these technological developments.In this paper, which considers two strands in the tradition of STSD theory and a case study, I will examine the need to introduce a familiar but rarely discussed or used STSD approach to major technological and organisational changes","PeriodicalId":115904,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Workplace Innovation","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116192663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The various traditions of socio-technical system design (STSD) emphasise different aspects of such systems, but the core relationship in the literature is between the use of technology and the set-up of organisations. Therefore, much attention has been paid to organisational issues, including work tasks, distributed responsibilities and processes. An organisation where tasks and responsibilities are distributed requires other forms of co-operation and clarification and, not least, that the actors trust each other. Nevertheless, trust has received little discussion in the STSD literature.This paper focuses on trust as a relational tool: the factors decisive for developing trust in a project management team established ad hoc to implement an offshore development project, how to develop trust in practice, and whether a focus on trust reduces the need for control measures. The purpose of systematic trust building is to develop team members who are, individually and as team members, able to deliver the results expected for their area and to support colleagues to do the same, thereby reducing the need for control measures. Trust building represents one way for the project manager to acquire control of the organisation, and it must therefore be better understood, starting with this question: how efficient are the various factors for the project manager in exercising power, i.e. ensuring control over project execution? The case in this paper illustrates the need to address trust and control in the set-up of a project management team, a focus which is also important for STSD in general.
{"title":"Trust-based steering of large Engineering-to-Order offshore/onshore projects: is it possible?","authors":"Dagrun Dvergsdal, T. Haga","doi":"10.46364/EJWI.V4I2.565","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.46364/EJWI.V4I2.565","url":null,"abstract":"The various traditions of socio-technical system design (STSD) emphasise different aspects of such systems, but the core relationship in the literature is between the use of technology and the set-up of organisations. Therefore, much attention has been paid to organisational issues, including work tasks, distributed responsibilities and processes. An organisation where tasks and responsibilities are distributed requires other forms of co-operation and clarification and, not least, that the actors trust each other. Nevertheless, trust has received little discussion in the STSD literature.This paper focuses on trust as a relational tool: the factors decisive for developing trust in a project management team established ad hoc to implement an offshore development project, how to develop trust in practice, and whether a focus on trust reduces the need for control measures. The purpose of systematic trust building is to develop team members who are, individually and as team members, able to deliver the results expected for their area and to support colleagues to do the same, thereby reducing the need for control measures. Trust building represents one way for the project manager to acquire control of the organisation, and it must therefore be better understood, starting with this question: how efficient are the various factors for the project manager in exercising power, i.e. ensuring control over project execution? The case in this paper illustrates the need to address trust and control in the set-up of a project management team, a focus which is also important for STSD in general.","PeriodicalId":115904,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Workplace Innovation","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121306193","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Contemporary debates over "the factory of the future" show that industries will need vocational workers that are empowered and skilled to act as decision-makers and controllers, holding technical and social skills of a high standard. Further, industrial development demands enough supply of skilled vocational workers. In Norway, a parallel concern is drop-out rates from upper secondary education. Consequently, it is of joint concern for the manufacturing industries, the secondary education system and the welfare state alike to ensure that young people choose vocational education and that they finish their education with skills and motivation needed to contribute in the "future manufacturing factory". The research question is the following: How can lower secondary schools or vocational colleges collaborate with industrial companies as to motivate young people to become vocational workers who are educated in the technical and generic skills needed for future manufacturing industries? With an action research approach, we explore on experiments of such innovative collaboration. We find that workplace-learning motivates young people to learn both trade specific and generic competencies. Thus, we argue that the lower secondary school-system must be included in what traditionally has been vocational education-workplace collaboration. Further, we find that the learning of future skill requirements presupposes collective learning processes and authentic problem solving. Finally, we argue that competencies fit well as an inclusion in both the social- and technological dimensions of socio-technical systems design, but more research is needed on the mechanisms by which competencies become "inputs" and "outputs" of future work designs.
{"title":"\"From terrible teen to terrific trainee\": Norwegian cases of innovative workplace-school collaboration to educate young people to become skilled workers in modern manufacturing industry","authors":"Lisbeth Øyum, Linn Thøring, D. S. Olsen","doi":"10.46364/EJWI.V4I2.581","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.46364/EJWI.V4I2.581","url":null,"abstract":"Contemporary debates over \"the factory of the future\" show that industries will need vocational workers that are empowered and skilled to act as decision-makers and controllers, holding technical and social skills of a high standard. Further, industrial development demands enough supply of skilled vocational workers. In Norway, a parallel concern is drop-out rates from upper secondary education. Consequently, it is of joint concern for the manufacturing industries, the secondary education system and the welfare state alike to ensure that young people choose vocational education and that they finish their education with skills and motivation needed to contribute in the \"future manufacturing factory\". The research question is the following: How can lower secondary schools or vocational colleges collaborate with industrial companies as to motivate young people to become vocational workers who are educated in the technical and generic skills needed for future manufacturing industries? With an action research approach, we explore on experiments of such innovative collaboration. We find that workplace-learning motivates young people to learn both trade specific and generic competencies. Thus, we argue that the lower secondary school-system must be included in what traditionally has been vocational education-workplace collaboration. Further, we find that the learning of future skill requirements presupposes collective learning processes and authentic problem solving. Finally, we argue that competencies fit well as an inclusion in both the social- and technological dimensions of socio-technical systems design, but more research is needed on the mechanisms by which competencies become \"inputs\" and \"outputs\" of future work designs.","PeriodicalId":115904,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Workplace Innovation","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126334207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Production systems have continuously evolved since early attempts to standardise parts, processes and work modes to enhance mass production. This was further refined by the Japanese automotive industry, which has been the global benchmark for decades. Lately, such systems have been developed as company specific production systems to create common identities and production principles, to form global production networks and performance systems. The purpose of this article is to investigate the introduction of new systems, or the introduction of new combined systems, casting light on what happens inside the organisation, making these systems work over time. The article illustrates how true change occurred in a multinational company over the period from 2000 to the present. The key point for this study is not the system as a formalised structure for improving overall company efficiency, based on measures regards to flexibility, cost, quality and time. Our concerns relate to mechanisms and agents behind the system itself, and evolution over time. We focus on the two mechanisms, mentor-sponsor and insider-outsiders, understanding how these mechanisms are related and eventually support each other. The article argues that popular managerial and performance tools and systems are less important than how mechanisms for initiating and maintaining focus on performance are managed as a symbiosis between local and central change agents.
{"title":"Social mechanisms of performance systems","authors":"Halvor Holtskog","doi":"10.46364/EJWI.V4I1.501","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.46364/EJWI.V4I1.501","url":null,"abstract":"Production systems have continuously evolved since early attempts to standardise parts, processes and work modes to enhance mass production. This was further refined by the Japanese automotive industry, which has been the global benchmark for decades. Lately, such systems have been developed as company specific production systems to create common identities and production principles, to form global production networks and performance systems. The purpose of this article is to investigate the introduction of new systems, or the introduction of new combined systems, casting light on what happens inside the organisation, making these systems work over time. The article illustrates how true change occurred in a multinational company over the period from 2000 to the present. The key point for this study is not the system as a formalised structure for improving overall company efficiency, based on measures regards to flexibility, cost, quality and time. Our concerns relate to mechanisms and agents behind the system itself, and evolution over time. We focus on the two mechanisms, mentor-sponsor and insider-outsiders, understanding how these mechanisms are related and eventually support each other. The article argues that popular managerial and performance tools and systems are less important than how mechanisms for initiating and maintaining focus on performance are managed as a symbiosis between local and central change agents.","PeriodicalId":115904,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Workplace Innovation","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114465764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The purpose of this research was to analyse vocational education teachers’ (VET) perceptions of enthusiasm at work. The analysis leaned on positive organisational theory and an index called PRIDE. Finnish VETs (N=15) who described themselves as enthusiastic teachers were interviewed with a themed interview method. The analysis followed the principles of qualitative content analysis. The data were categorised in a theory-based manner into the elements of PRIDE theory: positive practices, relationship enhancement, individual attributes, deviant leadership, and emotional well-being. According to the findings, the elements of PRIDE appeared interconnected in a manner that could be enhanced through leadership and organisation of work. Three themes appeared common to all elements: opportunities for development and to develop work, recognition and use of strengths and potential, and enhancement of interaction and collaboration. The research brought important information about how VETs could cope with the current changing work, and maintain their enthusiasm during the reform process of vocational education taking place in Finland. In addition, suggestions were made on how to lead and enhance teacher enthusiasm as a part of renewing vocational teaching.
{"title":"How does the PRIDE theory describe leadership and organisation that enhances vocational education teachers’ (VET) enthusiasm? An analysis of enthusiastic Finnish VET-teachers’ perceptions","authors":"S. Wenström, Satu Uusiautti, K. Määttä","doi":"10.46364/EJWI.V4I1.502","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.46364/EJWI.V4I1.502","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this research was to analyse vocational education teachers’ (VET) perceptions of enthusiasm at work. The analysis leaned on positive organisational theory and an index called PRIDE. Finnish VETs (N=15) who described themselves as enthusiastic teachers were interviewed with a themed interview method. The analysis followed the principles of qualitative content analysis. The data were categorised in a theory-based manner into the elements of PRIDE theory: positive practices, relationship enhancement, individual attributes, deviant leadership, and emotional well-being. According to the findings, the elements of PRIDE appeared interconnected in a manner that could be enhanced through leadership and organisation of work. Three themes appeared common to all elements: opportunities for development and to develop work, recognition and use of strengths and potential, and enhancement of interaction and collaboration. The research brought important information about how VETs could cope with the current changing work, and maintain their enthusiasm during the reform process of vocational education taking place in Finland. In addition, suggestions were made on how to lead and enhance teacher enthusiasm as a part of renewing vocational teaching.","PeriodicalId":115904,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Workplace Innovation","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115692192","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Service improvement (“servitisation”) and digitalisation are two megatrends that affect healthcare and public services along with other sectors in general. A new model is needed to prescribe how governance in an increasingly changing world of modern healthcare could be undertaken in a successful manner by embracing the power of Co-Creation. The concept of good worklife ergonomics is studied, both as a prerequisite, the ‘What’, and as a success factor in this context, the ‘Why’. This article proposes that the moderating, risk mitigating, factor of broadly based employee involvement in all phases from planning and design to implementation will greatly improve quality in both innovation-process, and outcomes. A case-study from a public homecare living lab eHealth-project in Norway is visited to highlight some of the challenges ahead. Having established that employee co-creation can contribute to successful digital transformation of healthcare services, the ‘How’ question is studied. The question of how to enable effective employee co-creation is under-researched. Employee participation in co-creation is stated as an important enabler of digitalisation and service improvements. The Nordic Model for employee participation has proven successful for enhancing working life effectiveness and innovation. This article propose that these principles of employee participation can be further enhanced by using web 2.0 technologies for Enterprise Social Networks. The article concludes with a discussion of consequences for the digital transformation of healthcare services as well as implications for research and practice.
{"title":"Worklife Ergonomics in Digital Co-Creation: The ‘What’, the ‘Why’ and the ‘How’","authors":"N. Garmann-Johnsen, Migle Helmersen, T. Eikebrokk","doi":"10.46364/EJWI.V4I1.503","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.46364/EJWI.V4I1.503","url":null,"abstract":"Service improvement (“servitisation”) and digitalisation are two megatrends that affect healthcare and public services along with other sectors in general. A new model is needed to prescribe how governance in an increasingly changing world of modern healthcare could be undertaken in a successful manner by embracing the power of Co-Creation. The concept of good worklife ergonomics is studied, both as a prerequisite, the ‘What’, and as a success factor in this context, the ‘Why’. This article proposes that the moderating, risk mitigating, factor of broadly based employee involvement in all phases from planning and design to implementation will greatly improve quality in both innovation-process, and outcomes. A case-study from a public homecare living lab eHealth-project in Norway is visited to highlight some of the challenges ahead. Having established that employee co-creation can contribute to successful digital transformation of healthcare services, the ‘How’ question is studied. The question of how to enable effective employee co-creation is under-researched. Employee participation in co-creation is stated as an important enabler of digitalisation and service improvements. The Nordic Model for employee participation has proven successful for enhancing working life effectiveness and innovation. This article propose that these principles of employee participation can be further enhanced by using web 2.0 technologies for Enterprise Social Networks. The article concludes with a discussion of consequences for the digital transformation of healthcare services as well as implications for research and practice.","PeriodicalId":115904,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Workplace Innovation","volume":"412 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132607321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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